The New York and Boston public-transit systems have lagged in protecting children from exposure to alcohol advertising, according to the Marin Institute, which wants to ban all alcohol ads from municipal trains, buses, and other transit services.

NY1 News reported Nov. 8 that Marin officials held a press conference at City Hall in New York to call for an alcohol-ad ban at the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA).

"We know that there is a connection between alcohol advertising and underage drinking," said Michele Simon, research director at Marin. "The case had been made time and time again that the more ads for alcohol kids see, the more likely they are to drink."

Hunter College students working with Marin found 200 alcohol ads on just 35 MTA trains canvassed. An MTA spokesperson said that less than five percent of the agency's ad revenues come from alcohol.

New York Assemblyman Felix Ortiz (D-Brooklyn) has introduced a pair of bills that would ban alcohol ads on public-transit systems statewide. "Our public transit systems are not the appropriate places for alcohol or tobacco products to be displayed," said Ortiz.  "Young people and teens travel these systems regularly and we know that they are negatively affected by these images."

Marin released a study showing that 75 percent of public-transit agencies now prohibit alcohol advertising, including those in Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., San Diego, Philadelphia, and the San Francisco Bay Area.